A GTA 5 story walkthrough by stage: what each part of the story unlocks, where you pick heist approaches and crews, what can be lost for good, what to do when no missions show up on the map, and a short note on gold medals. As of November 2026.
How the story flows and how not to get lost
You play GTA 5 as three protagonists: Michael, Franklin and Trevor. At first only Franklin is available, Michael joins after the mission Complications and Trevor after Mr. Philips. From then on the game switches characters between storylines, and in free roam you do it with the character wheel.
Missions from several characters open at the same time, but each character's own missions run strictly in order. So the order is flexible: you can clear every available Franklin job and then move on to Trevor. The full list of 69 missions by character is on the GTA 5 missions page, and how many hours it takes is in the guide how long to beat GTA 5.
The game autosaves after missions, but keep manual saves in separate slots too. They are your safety net before choosing a heist approach, before the finale and before tasks where an achievement can be lost.
What each stage unlocks
The table does not repeat the mission list. It shows only the key missions of each stage and what appears in the world after them.
| Stage | Key missions | What unlocks |
|---|---|---|
| Prologue and Franklin | Prologue, Franklin and Lamar, Repossession | Ammu-Nation shooting range; Stunt Plane Time Trials at Sandy Shores Airfield (in the bonus editions and on PS4 and later); letter scraps can be collected from the very start |
| Meeting Michael | Complications, Father/Son, Daddy's Little Girl | playing as Michael, golf and tennis (Complications), triathlons (Daddy's Little Girl) |
| The first heist | Friend Request, Casing the Jewel Store, The Jewel Store Job | the first heist approach choice and the first crew hire |
| Trevor in Blaine County | Mr. Philips, Nervous Ron, Trevor Philips Industries, Crystal Maze, Friends Reunited | playing as Trevor; off-road races and Bail Bonds (Mr. Philips); Trevor's free airfield and hangars, helipads and marinas for sale (Nervous Ron); Rampages (Trevor Philips Industries); darts (Crystal Maze); Flight School (Friends Reunited) |
| FIB and Merryweather | Fame or Shame, Three's Company, The Merryweather Heist, Hood Safari, Did Somebody Say Yoga?, Blitz Play | Omega and the spaceship parts (after Fame or Shame), Trevor's Frogger at the airfield (Three's Company), sea races (Hood Safari), Michael's yoga |
| Paleto Bay | Minor Turbulence, The Paleto Score, Derailed, Monkey Business | Michael and Trevor lie low in Blaine County; Monkey Business lets them back into Los Santos |
| Setting up the big one | Bury the Hatchet, The Bureau Raid, Lamar Down, Meltdown, Planning the Big Score | approach choices for the FIB raid and the final heist |
| Finale | The Big Score, one of three final missions | free roam across the whole map, the remaining Lester assassinations, the 100% cleanup |
The hobbies from the table are collected on the page GTA 5 hobbies and pastimes, together with which of them count toward 100%.
Choices: where the decision is yours
- Heist approach. Four of the five heists give you a choice: the jewel store (Loud or Smart), Merryweather (Offshore or Freighter), the FIB raid (Fire Crew or Roof Entry) and the final heist (Subtle or Obvious). The Paleto Score has a single approach. The choice decides the setup missions, and you will not see the other option's setups in the same playthrough. What guides recommend for each heist is on the GTA 5 heists page.
- Crew. Experienced hires take a bigger cut, rookies are cheaper but can lose part of the take. Survivors level up for the next job. Strong rookies are unlocked through random events on the street, so help the strangers you meet between missions.
- Ending. After The Big Score Franklin picks one of three options. Only in C, Deathwish, do all three survive and nothing disappears. Details with spoilers are on the GTA 5 endings page.
What you can lose for good
Nothing required for 100% can be missed: after the credits every required item stays available in free roam with any ending. Other things can be lost:
- The dead protagonist's content. In ending A you lose Trevor, his Strangers and Freaks, Rampages and properties. In B you lose Michael, his missions, yoga and cinemas.
- Three achievements. Red Mist (all of Trevor's Rampages), Kifflom! (Michael's Epsilon line) and TP Industries Arms Race (Trevor's arms trafficking) must be done before the finale. With ending C there is no risk.
- Wanted: Alive or Alive. At least one of Maude's four fugitives has to be brought in alive. Kill all of them and the achievement is gone.
- Altruist Acolyte. Trevor has to drive at least one hitchhiker from a random event to the Altruist Cult instead of where they asked to go.
The full list of achievements marked as missable is on the GTA 5 achievements page.
If there are no missions on the map
- Switch characters. One protagonist's line often waits until another finishes his part. Check the map as each of the three.
- Lose your wanted level. You cannot start a mission with active stars.
- Check the clock. Some side activities have hours: Hao's street races run only from 20:00 to 05:00, the Mineward Spiral race from 20:00 to 03:00.
- Michael and Trevor in Blaine. Between Minor Turbulence and Monkey Business they stay away from Los Santos, so their city jobs wait until that part is over.
- After ending A or B the dead protagonist's missions disappear. That is how the game works, not a bug.
Gold medals in brief
Every story mission has extra conditions for gold: time, accuracy, no damage and so on. The results screen after the mission shows them. There are 115 medals: 69 for story missions and 46 for Strangers and Freaks. The achievement Solid Gold, Baby! needs any 70.
Play your first run without worrying about medals. Any completed mission can be replayed from the pause menu, and by then you know the conditions. Do not enter cheats before a replay: with them the medal cannot be higher than bronze, and achievements are temporarily disabled. Codes and their limits are on the GTA 5 cheats page.
After the finale
Free roam continues across the whole map. Guides recommend doing four of Lester's five assassinations now: the money from The Big Score lands in your accounts, and the stock market pays many times more. The step-by-step plan is in the guide GTA 5 stock market. Next comes the GTA 5 100% checklist, the collectibles and the vehicles unlocked by side tasks: rare vehicles in GTA 5.
GTA 5 walkthrough FAQ
How many story missions are in GTA 5?
69 according to the game's stats. Sites that count the setups for both heist approaches and all three finales separately give a higher number, but you cannot play them all in one run.
Can you play GTA 5 missions out of order?
Partly. The three protagonists' storylines run in parallel and you can alternate between them. Within one character's line, missions unlock strictly one after another.
What should I do if no missions show up in GTA 5?
Switch to the other characters and check the map as each, lose any wanted level and check the time of day. Between Minor Turbulence and Monkey Business, Michael and Trevor do not go back to Los Santos.
What is missable in GTA 5?
Nothing for 100%. You can permanently lose the content of the protagonist killed in ending A or B and a few achievements: Red Mist, Kifflom!, TP Industries Arms Race, Wanted: Alive or Alive and Altruist Acolyte.
Do you need gold medals for 100%?
No. Finishing the missions is enough for 100%. Gold only matters for the achievement Solid Gold, Baby!: any 70 medals out of 115.
Which GTA 5 ending should I choose?
Guides agree on C (Deathwish, the mission The Third Way): all three protagonists survive and nothing is removed from the game. Make a separate save before choosing.
Read next
All guides →
Sources
- Official: Rockstar Games, Rockstar Newswire, Rockstar Support, Take-Two Interactive
- Databases and guides: GTABase, GTA Wiki, GTA BOOM, PowerPyx
- Press: GamesRadar, PC Gamer, IGN, VGC, Game Informer
Every fact is checked against official sources or at least two independent ones; player-sourced data is labelled in the text. Images are official Rockstar Games material. GTA Top is not affiliated with Rockstar Games or Take-Two Interactive.